RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads): Australia Guide

You’ve seen this scenario a thousand times:

Someone visits your website. They look at your pricing page. They don’t convert. They leave.

Two days later, they’re back on Google searching for the exact category you sell. Your ad appears.

What if you could bid more aggressively for this person—because you know they’ve already seen you and shown intent?

That’s RLSA. And it’s one of the most underrated optimisation techniques in Google Ads.

RLSA lets you apply different bid adjustments to people based on whether they’ve previously visited your website. Return visitors get higher bids. New visitors get normal bids. The result: more conversions from warm audiences, less wasted spend on cold traffic.

In this guide, we’ll cover what RLSA is, how it works, how to set it up, and advanced strategies for Australian businesses.

What Is RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads)?

RLSA is a way to apply bid adjustments to Google Search campaigns based on whether someone has visited your website before.

Simple explanation:

Someone visits your site → Google tracks them with a pixel
They leave without converting
Two days later, they search on Google for something related to your product
Google recognises them (via cookies/logged-in identity)
You can now show them a different ad and bid more aggressively

The key difference from regular remarketing:

Regular remarketing: Shows ads on other websites and apps (Display Network, YouTube, partner sites)
RLSA: Only shows ads on Google Search results (when they actively search)

RLSA is more expensive (higher CPCs because you’re bidding up), but conversion rates are higher. You’re not interrupting someone—you’re catching them when they’re searching for exactly what you sell.

Why RLSA Works

Let’s think about the journey:

Day 1: Someone searches “accounting software for small business”. They click your ad, visit your website, look around, and leave without converting. Maybe your pricing is too high. Maybe they want to compare with others. Maybe they just weren’t ready to buy yet.

Without RLSA: If they search again for “accounting software” a week later, Google treats them like a cold prospect. Your ad bids against 500 other accountingsoftware sites. You win maybe 20% of the time.

With RLSA: Google recognises it’s the same person. You bid 20–50% higher just for them. You now win 60–70% of the time. You pay more per click but close a much higher percentage. ROI goes up.

The data:

RLSA conversion rate: 3–8% (returning visitors)
Non-RLSA conversion rate: 0.8–2% (new visitors)
RLSA CTR: 2–5% higher than non-RLSA
RLSA CPC: Often 15–30% higher (you’re bidding more aggressively)

Despite higher CPCs, RLSA campaigns typically deliver 2–4x better ROAS than cold traffic.

How RLSA Works: The Technical Foundation

Google uses a few signals to recognise returning visitors:

Google Ads conversion pixel (on your site)
Google Analytics identifier (if you’re signed into a Google account and have Analytics linked to Ads)
Website traffic pixel (standard)
Authenticated login (if you require users to log in; strongest signal)

The match rate (percentage of searches Google can match to returning visitors) is typically:

For ecommerce: 20–40% of search traffic (many users clear cookies, use different devices)
For B2B/lead gen: 5–15% (longer sales cycles, fewer repeat searches)
For service businesses: 10–25% (depends on repeat search frequency)

This is lower than you’d expect because:

Many people use multiple devices (saw you on laptop, search on phone).
Cookie deletion happens frequently.
Not all Google Search is tied to logged-in identities.

But the 20–40% that do get matched are your warmest prospects.

Setting Up RLSA: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Install Conversion Tracking

RLSA requires a conversion pixel on your website. Without it, Google can’t build your remarketing audience.

In Google Ads:

Go to Tools & Settings > Conversions
Create a new conversion (Website → Purchase, or Lead, or View, depending on your business)
Copy the global site tag and paste it on your website (header, before tag)
Test the pixel fires (use Google Tag Assistant or check Conversions report after 24–48 hours)

Step 2: Create Your Remarketing Audience

In Google Ads:

Go to Tools & Settings > Audiences
Click +Audience
Select Website visitors
Choose your source (usually “Website traffic pixel”)
Set the audience duration (how long Google remembers them):

30 days: Quick-intent purchases (ecommerce, SaaS)
90 days: Standard B2B sales cycles
180 days: Long sales cycles (law, commercial real estate)

Name the audience (e.g., “All Website Visitors — 90 days”)
Create

Minimum audience size: 1,000 users (Google’s requirement for search campaign audiences).

If you’re below 1,000, RLSA won’t work yet. It typically takes 2–4 weeks to hit 1,000 users if you’re running Search campaigns actively.

Step 3: Add the Audience to a Search Campaign

In Google Ads Campaign:

Go to your Search campaign
Go to Audiences
Click Edit audience targeting
Select your remarketing audience
Choose targeting method (see next section)
Set bid adjustment (e.g., +25%)
Save

Targeting Method: Target and Bid vs. Bid Only

Google offers two ways to use RLSA:

Option 1: Target and Bid (Restrictive)

Only show ads to people who match your RLSA audience.

Pros:

Guarantees your ads only show to warm audiences
Highest conversion rate

Cons:

Significantly reduces impression volume
Works only if your audience is large (5,000+ users) and actively searching
Limited reach for new customer acquisition

Best for: Ecommerce with large warm audiences. Not ideal for lead gen.

Option 2: Bid Only (Recommended)

Show ads to everyone, but bid higher for RLSA audience members.

Pros:

Don’t limit reach—new customers still see your ads
Bid adjustments reward warm traffic
Simpler setup and more forgiving

Cons:

Lower conversion rate overall (cold traffic dilutes results)
Requires careful bid management

Best for: Most Australian businesses. Especially lead gen and professional services where new customer acquisition still matters.

Recommendation: Start with Bid Only. You won’t cripple reach, and you’re optimising toward warm traffic without cutting off new prospects.

Bid Adjustment Strategy

How much higher should you bid for returning visitors?

Starting recommendations:

Business Type	Customer Lifetime Value	Recommended Bid Adjustment
Ecommerce (fast repeat purchase)	$500+	+40 to +60%
Ecommerce (single purchase)	$100–$500	+25 to +40%
SaaS / Subscriptions	$5,000+	+30 to +50%
Professional Services	$10,000+	+20 to +35%
Lead Gen (B2B)	$500–$2,000	+15 to +30%
Local Services	$100–$500	+20 to +40%

Why the range? It depends on:

How much better your conversion rate actually is for RLSA traffic
How sensitive your CPAs are to bid changes
How much budget you want to allocate to RLSA vs. new traffic

The conservative approach: Start at +20%. Run for 2 weeks. Measure conversion rate improvement. If you’re getting 3x+ conversion rate on RLSA, increase to +30–40%.

The aggressive approach: Start at +50%. Run for 1 week. If CPA is still reasonable (costs less to get a conversion than it’s worth), keep it. Otherwise, dial back.

Advanced RLSA Strategies

Strategy 1: Bid More on High-Intent Remarketing Audiences

Not all website visitors are equal. Create multiple remarketing audiences and bid differently:

Audience	Duration	How They Got Here	Bid Adjustment
All visitors	90 days	Any page	+20%
Product page viewers	60 days	Viewed product/pricing	+40%
Cart abandoners (ecommerce)	30 days	Added items, didn’t buy	+60%
High-value page viewers	120 days	Viewed high-intent pages	+50%

Example (Real):

Someone visits your SaaS pricing page (high-intent signal) → you bid +60%. Someone visits your blog (low-intent signal) → you bid +20%.

Same person, different signals, different bids. This maximises ROI.

How to set up multiple audiences: Go to Tools > Audiences and create separate audiences for each segment. Each has its own duration and trigger. Then add them all to your campaign with different bid adjustments.

Strategy 2: RLSA + Sequential Messaging

Combine RLSA bidding with sequential ad copy. Show different messages to returning visitors.

Ad copy for RLSA audience (returning visitor):

Headline: “Welcome Back”
Description: “Ready to try it? 30-day free trial. No credit card.”

Ad copy for non-RLSA audience (new visitor):

Headline: “[Product] for [Category]”
Description: “Used by 5,000+ Australian businesses. Learn more.”

Your bid is higher for the warm audience and your message is more targeted to them. This compounds the effect.

How to set up: In your Search campaign, create separate ad groups:

Ad Group 1: Keywords + RLSA audience (different bid adjustment + messaging)
Ad Group 2: Keywords + non-RLSA audience (standard bid + messaging)

Strategy 3: RLSA for Lead Gen (B2B)

B2B sales cycles are long. Someone visits your site in January, doesn’t fill a form, searches again in April.

RLSA becomes critical:

Extend audience duration to 180+ days (long B2B cycles)
Create a “high-intent” RLSA list (people who visited your demo or case study pages)
Bid +30–50% on high-intent RLSA
Bid +10–15% on all RLSA (they’re still warm, just lower-intent)

B2B companies often see 4–8x better conversion rates on RLSA traffic because the sales cycle is long and you’re catching them at the moment they’re re-engaging.

Strategy 4: Exclude RLSA From Competitor Campaigns

If you’re bidding on competitor keywords, don’t bid up on your RLSA audience there. They’ve already seen you. Bid normally and let new competitors-searchers see you.

Why? You don’t need to spend extra to win someone who’s already considering you. Save the bid adjustment for your own branded keywords.

Troubleshooting RLSA: Why It’s Not Working

Problem 1: Audience Size Too Small

Symptom: “Audience is too small to use for targeting” message.

Solution: Wait 2–4 weeks. Build more traffic. Until you hit 1,000 users, RLSA won’t work.

Problem 2: Not Enough Matched Searches

Symptom: RLSA is set up, but very few impressions go to RLSA audience.

Reasons & fixes:

People don’t search again (change ad messaging or keywords to trigger re-searches)
Audience built from Display campaigns (switch to building from Search or Conversions)
Using “Target and Bid” instead of “Bid Only” (limits reach)

Solution: Switch to “Bid Only” mode. You’ll see more RLSA impressions.

Problem 3: RLSA Audience Has Worse Conversion Rate Than Expected

Symptom: RLSA traffic converts worse than new visitors.

Reasons & fixes:

Audience includes all site visitors (including those who came for support/questions, not purchase intent)
Landing page doesn’t align with RLSA message
Bid adjustment is too high, attracting impulse clickers

Solution: Create more specific audiences (product page visitors only, not all site visitors). Reduce bid adjustment. Test landing page alignment.

Measuring RLSA ROI

Set up conversion tracking, then measure:

Metric	RLSA Audience	Non-RLSA Audience	Improvement
Impressions	5,000	45,000	—
Clicks	250	1,800	—
Conversions	20	18	+11% more conversions on RLSA
CPC	$2.50	$2.00	+25% (higher bid)
Conversion Rate	8%	1%	8x better
Cost per Conversion	$31.25	$200	6.4x better

Even though RLSA has higher CPCs, conversion rate is so much better that overall CPA (cost per acquisition) is significantly lower.

This is the RLSA magic.

RLSA Checklist: Before You Launch

[ ] Conversion pixel installed and tested (fires on desired action)
[ ] At least 1,000 users in remarketing audience (if waiting, note wait time)
[ ] Campaign set to “Bid Only” (unless you specifically want to restrict to RLSA only)
[ ] Bid adjustment set (start at +20–30%)
[ ] Multiple audience segments created (if you have them)
[ ] Ad copy ready for RLSA messaging (if doing sequential)
[ ] Conversion tracking verified (check after 24 hours)
[ ] Calendar reminder to check performance at 2 weeks

Summary

RLSA is a straightforward optimisation technique that works:

Install a pixel (conversion tracking)
Build a remarketing audience (1,000+ users, 90-day duration typical)
Add to Search campaign with “Bid Only” targeting
Set bid adjustment (+20–50% depending on LTV)
Monitor and adjust based on conversion rate improvements

The result: 3–8x better conversion rates on returning visitor traffic, often delivering the best ROAS in your entire PPC strategy.

RLSA is fire-and-forget once set up. The platform does the heavy lifting. You just need the audience size and patience to let it work.

RLSA is a powerful optimisation technique that Anitech implements as standard in all Google Ads management. Small changes to bid strategy for warm audiences often deliver the biggest ROI improvements. Learn more about our Google Ads management and how we optimise every lever of your campaigns.

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May 17, 2026